New Years Eve
by goingthroughhellkeepgoing
Summary: Jackson and Aaron's New years Eve 2012
1. Chapter 1

"Hurry up, they'll be here in a minute." Aaron moaned to Jackson through the bathroom door as the builder took his time in the shower. "You've been ages."

"You want me to look and smell nice don't you?" Jackson called back, he was almost finished. "I don't know why you're moaning for, I'm sure you can answer the door without me holding your hand." He could feel the younger man glaring at him through the door due to his comment.

He didn't get a reply to that, the teen had already gone back into their room to flick through the radio stations on the T.V before switching it off all together, having not found any station playing a song he liked. He was wound up. He was going to be all night. Jackson had suggested they hold a new years eve party at Smithy. Hazel was away, celebrating the coming of the new year in Hawaii, and Paddy and Rhona were away for the weekend in some Hotel in Leeds, celebrating there, which left the boys with the house to themselves. When Aaron found out they would be alone in Smithy cottage for New years eve he had thought they would be spending it together, alone – just the two of them. But no, apparently not, Jackson was excited about holding a new years party and before the young mechanic new it, he'd already invited a bunch of people, a few from the village, his work and a few mates he knew from bar west or other places. Smithy was going to be packed with people he didn't know and others he rather didn't. None of Jackson's mates went much on him; he knew they disapproved of the builder's choice in a boyfriend. So that was why he was wound up, awaiting the moment when Jackson's friends would be arriving to drop snide comments about him all night and he would be the one having to keep his cool.

"Lighten up Aaron, it's going to fun." Jackson said strolling into their room with just a towel wrapped loosely round his waist. The younger man rolled his eyes and threw himself down onto the bed. He wasn't happy that Jackson had picked his clothes out either. He felt like a child how his own boyfriend had told him what not to wear. He was stuck in a pair of dark jeans and a black slim fit shirt, none of it was comfortable.

Jackson carefully picked his own clothes out, laying them out carefully on the bed beside Aaron's slumped form before retrieving a pair of boxers and socks from a draw. He spotted a couple of his friends already arriving outside in their car as he passed the bedroom window. "Go downstairs and let them in for me." Jackson asked.

"Who?" Aaron asked, straining his neck to see out the window himself from the bed.

"Tony and that." Jackson answered, ditching his towel on the floor before pulling on his boxers.

"Do I have to?" Aaron scoffed. "You're nearly dressed why can't you?" He didn't want to. He knew Tony didn't go much on him. He'd heard him drop a few nasty words about him and he knew he would find it difficult to keep up a good mood if he was to say anything to him right then.

"Just do it." Jackson sighed. He was aware that Aaron didn't like his friends but it was something he was going to have to get over.

"Fine!" Aaron snapped as he got up and headed out of the room.

He took his time descending the stairs, taking each step carefully, rather than his rushed thunderous skip of several steps at time in a haste to reach the last. He went through into the lounge first, turning the volume up on the stereo, allowing the music to blast out at an unsocial level, a level at which any conversation would be hard to hold in its volume. He double checked the door to the surgery, as well, remembering the last house party he had held at Smithy when one of Holly's friends had broken in. Since then a new and improved lock had been fitted on the door. Satisfied that the music was at the right volume and the lock on the surgery door wasn't going to be broken, Aaron strolled through to the front door when Tony and some of Jackson's other mates, knocked a fourth time.

"Alright, alright!" Aaron snapped quietly before he opened the door to reveal Tony and four others he recognised.

He quickly stepped aside to let them in. The sooner he let them in the sooner he could go back upstairs and see how long Jackson was going to take to throw on some clothes. "Jackson's just upstairs." He awkwardly told them. He'd never be left alone with any of Jackson's friends, he'd always been with him.

"That's okay." Tony said. "I know how long he likes to take to tart himself up." He teased. "Where should we leave the alcohol?" He asked as he looked down briefly to show the crate of beer he held in his arms.

"Anywhere." Aaron answered as he closed the door. He didn't care.

"Right then. Anywhere sounds good to me." Tony said as he headed towards the bench under the kitchen table to rest the beer on.

While Tony and the other's busied themselves with ditching their drinks they'd brought with them, Aaron headed back upstairs.

"What you doing back up here?" Jackson asked, now fully dressed and spritzing on some aftershave. ". . .You haven't left them down on there on their own? Aaron you're supposed to talk to them, make them feel welcome!"

Aaron just looked at him. At what point did the builder think that Aaron would ever talk to them.

"Never mind, I'm ready now." Jackson said heading towards their bedroom door. "Come on let's get down their before they think we've disappeared."

"You'd be lucky." Aaron mumbled as he followed.

A couple of hours later and most people who had been invited had arrived, including a few people that Aaron knew. While Jackson busied himself circling round his friends, Aaron stayed in the same place, sat on one of the sofas with Adam drinking as they watched Holly and Victoria try to get a new years kiss sorted.

"Your sister's desperate." Aaron said without thinking as he downed another beer.

"Hey!" Adam said jumping to defend her but re thinking as he watched her chat up a forth guy that night in the hour and a half they'd been there. ". . . Maybe you've got a point."

"Then again, Victoria's no better." Aaron cringed as he watched her obviously fake a laugh over some guy's rubbish joke.

"What can I say, they must be if they ever went out with you." Adam teased.

"Yeah but . . . I went out with YOUR sister. I got with your SISTER." Aaron reminded Adam smugly who went quiet rather quickly.

It took Adam a while before he was able get back at his best mate. "Don't forget you tried it on with me and I knocked you back big time." Adam laughed satisfied he'd got one up on his best mate. "Another beer?"

"Yeah, I'll get these." Aaron told him. "See if I can track down Jackson while I'm at it. . ."

"Yeah where is he?"

"Who knows." Aaron answered before heading into the kitchen in search of his boyfriends and more drink.

In the kitchen Jackson was stood near the sink, chatting to several of his friends, two of them being Aaron's worst haters Sol and Jay. He was currently listening to the two of them trying to change his mind about Aaron. He had to admit they never gave up. But neither did he, he loved Aaron and nothing was going to change that.

"You seriously cannot like that chav!" Sol commented as he rolled his eyes. "He's everything you said you hated."

True, there were some attributes in Aaron that he said he hated. Violence being one of them. The young mechanic had a tendency to resolve to violence when he couldn't see any other way out, he'd used it on him not weeks since he met up. But there were also things inside of Aaron that people didn't see that he loved. How he would seek comfort when he was tired or nervous, his sense of humour when he would let himself go or how he would ask silly little questions, "if an orange is called an orange then why aren't bananas called yellow and strawberries called red?"

"I'll admit. There are things I don't agree with. But I like him and that's why I'm with him." Jackson explained. "He can surprise you."

"I wouldn't bet on that." Jay scoffed over his drink.

"Hey, be nice." Jackson defended.

"Nice? Have you seen how he is with us?" Another one of Jackson's friends, Tara said. "He grunts or just glares at you."

"He's shy." Jackson told her.

"Shy? No, he's just rude Jackson, it's about time you found someone you deserve." Tara continued not caring who heard.

"She's right, just a while ago I heard him and his mate laughing about bedding his friend's sister!" Sol Scorned. "He's a pig!"

"Liste-." Jackson began only to be cut off by Jay.

"Listen to us. Soon or later he'll most probably be off with somebody else or in prison for beating somebody up." Jay explained to him. "You need a boyfriend who you're not scared to be around, scared when he'll next lose his temper and swing a punch."

"He's-." Jackson started again.

"Don't. I hear Bradley is still single." Sol winked to Jackson.

Is that what Jackson's friends really thought about him? That he was a lose cannon ready to explode, ready to beat the closest person to him up. He wasn't like that. He wasn't. He knew how to keep a check on his temper. They all thought Jackson could do way better than him as well. He often wondered that. Often thought why Jackson, such a kind genuine man like him, was doing with putting up with him. A guy who grunted when spoken to, glared and lost his temper at the slightest thing, a stones throw away from being put in prison at any moment. Jackson had just stood there as well, as the insults and snide comments had rolled in about him, the builder had just stood and allowed each of them to vent there hate towards him.

Feeling he'd heard enough when Sol mentioned another man who would be interested in Jackson, Aaron strode into the kitchen. Walked straight through the middle of them to reach the fridge and pulled out a cold pack of beers, ignoring all of them.

"See what I mean." He heard Tara mutter for only them to hear.

He gave her a scathing look as he walked past again.

"Aaron. . ." Jackson said as he walked past, he hadn't even acknowledged him.

"What?" Aaron asked shortly, stopping midway to the living room door.

"Having a good time?" Jackson asked politely. "I'll be in there in a minute with you."

"Don't rush." Aaron said, a subtle meaning hidden in his words. He didn't want to pull Jackson away from the hate party.

Aaron didn't stick around for an answer, he wanted to get away from them and sit down with Adam to get drunk. He was going to get drunk. He didn't want to care about he heard said about him. Alcohol was the only solution to that. When he was drunk, he didn't care or he couldn't remember. Either seemed good enough to him. If Jackson was going to be with his friends all night, then he was going to keep himself amused, with a good supply of drink and Adam to keep him company.

"Here, get that down ya." Aaron said chucking a bottle of larger at Adam.

He ripped himself a bottle from the pack, pulled the cap off and took a very long sip from it, enough to get him started.

"Easy." Adam laughed when he noticed Aaron necking his drink.

"What?" Aaron snapped.

"You're gonna be half cut by the time new years gets here. You won't remember it!" Adam told him. "Either that or you'll be passed out by 11:30."

"No I won't." Aaron argued before continuing on his mission to get wasted.

By half nine he'd already drank seven bottles of larger, three shots and a glass of wine Holly had insisted he drank. He had sworn never to drink wine once, only real gay people drank that in his world. But he'd been too out off it to care. He was not supporting his weight against the window, as he perched himself on the window sill outside as he took a long drag from his cigarette. The fresh had hit him as he walked outside for a smoke, mixing with his alcohol intake, he was finding it hard to see things clearly.

"There you are!" He heard Victoria call from the front door.

"Where did you think I where?" Aaron slurred as he puffed out the smoke in his lungs.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Obviously not where you're at now. How much have you had?" She asked as he made he way over.

"A few." Aaron answered, staring off down the village.

"A few?" She scoffed. "You've had way more than that. Jackson's going to kill you, you can barely stand."

"Shut up." Aaron yawned. ". . . Can you remember when we used to get drunk together?" He asked after a while, going off subject. "We nicked that crate of wine from Diane that time and downed it at the cricket pavilion."

"Yes, I paid her back though." Victoria told him.

"-Then your Andy came looking for you and put on the hard man act." He slurred.

"Scared ya though." Victoria teased.

"No he didn't!" Aaron argued pushing himself away from the window sill too quickly.

"Woah!" Victoria cried out as he grabbed hold of the young mechanic's arm. "Easy."

"Get off!" Aaron snarled pulling his arm quickly out of Victoria's grasp, his mood changing rapidly.

"Alright, calm down." Victoria exclaimed. What had gotten Aaron to be so mardy.

"I am calm!" Aaron snapped aggressively before stomping off back into the house.

"What's up with him?" Adam asked as he dodged out of the way of a moody Aaron as he stormed past on his way outside.

"God knows." Victoria sighed. "Just keep an eye on him. He's off his head."

"Will do." Adam said, turning back round. He'd seen how much the young mechanic had put away that night.

It took a while for him to track Aaron down again; he had disappeared amongst all of the guests. Jackson had invited quite a few people, enough to fill out the whole of Smithy Cottage's ground floor. So it proved difficult to find his best mate who had taken refuge in one of the bedrooms upstairs, this time chucking another shot down his throat with group of people who he didn't know.

"Aaron, there you are mate." Adam exclaimed, clamping his hands down on the teenager's shoulders. "What you doing?"

"Do you want one?" Aaron asked.

Adam shook his head. "Nah, mate." He declined; he could see the state Aaron was in. He'd been matching his drink with Aarons. So he couldn't work out how he'd gotten so wasted, unless he'd been sneaking in shots when he wasn't watching. "Where's Jackson?"

Aaron shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't you think you should find him?" Adam asked, it was nearing midnight, surely Aaron wanted to be with him at new years.

"No, he can find me." Aaron shot back.

"Don't be stupid mate." Adam told him. "I bet he is looking for you."

"I can't see him."

"That's caus-."

"I bet he's off with somebody else, somebody Sol or that Jay has set him up with." Aaron continued spitefully.

"Aaron, he wouldn't." Adam argued. "He's got you."

The group of people, that Adam presumed to be Jackson's mates, arranged more shots and handed another to Aaron.

"No you don't." Adam said, taking the shot from Aaron's hand.

"What you doing?" Aaron snapped, reaching for his drink back but clumsily missing.

"You've had enough, come on." Adam said grabbing Aaron's arm again. He would take the young mechanic into the kitchen and force him to drink coffee and eat something full of starch until he sobered enough to greet his boyfriend into the New Year.

"No." Aaron argued, trying to rip his arm away from Adam.

"No, come on. You need sobering up." Adam scolded, as the group of people ignored them too wasted to care either. "You're off your head and acting like a pratt."

"I said get. Off. Me." Aaron snarled, this time successfully ripping his arm from Adam's grip but loosing fight against gravity. The young mechanic stumbled forwards, reaching out a hand to grab the door frame in front of him but unlucky too far away. He fell to the floor, smacking his head on the corner of the partly opened draw.

"Aaron?" Adam called out, quickly going to help his mate back up.

"m'fine." Aaron snapped, slowly dragging himself to his feet, shrugging off any help offered.

"Aaron-." Adam started trying to get a look at his mate. He thought he'd saw him bang his head.

"M'fine." Aaron repeated before pushing away and going downstairs.

Adam watched his mate disappear down the stairs as he ran a hand over his head.

"If he alright?" Somebody asked behind him.

"What?" Adam shot at them as he spun around, he'd forgotten they were there.

The girl who had spoken looked back startled.

"Yeah, sorry. . . He'll be okay." Adam quickly said.

A/N – New Year Eve's 'one shot' as I promised. I just remembered I promised such a thing a couple of hours before the end of 2011. So I haven't had time to finish it. It shall be 3-5 one shot Hope you enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

His head throbbed as he pushed his way through the kitchen. Stupid draw for sticking out in his way, it was going to hurt a hell of a lot in the morning. He just needed to get away from Adam. All he had wanted was to have a good time that night, and now he was having Adam getting on his case. Couldn't anyone leave him alone? Besides Adam was supposed to be having a laugh with him, If Jackson was too busy with his mates then Aaron should be busy with his. Why wasn't Adam having a laugh with him?

"You okay mate?" Tony asked as he tried to squeeze past him to look into the living room. He was looking for Holly, Victoria or Amy, any of them really.

He glared at the older man. "Yeah!"

"Alright. You don't look it. What have you done?" He continued to question reaching out a hand to touch Aaron.

What the hell did he think he was doing? The young mechanic quickly shoved the older man away from him.

For a minute Tony looked back scared. He'd heard of what Jackson's boyfriend could really be like, so he knew he needed to tread carefully. He couldn't leave the teen to wonder round in the state he was in. There was blood trailing down the side of his head. "You need that seeing to." He told him firmly.

"No I don't." Aaron mumbled, already turning around and walking away. "S'good."

"No it's . . ." Tony began knowing his attempt would be pointless. He'd heard a few things about the young mechanic from Sol and Jay, none of it being good. But seeing the state he was in now, he just felt bad for him. Where was Jackson, hadn't he spotted him wondering round the cottage.

"You got them drinks yet? It's nearly midnight!" Sol shouted through from a corner of the lounge with Jay, Tara, Jackson and few others.

"Nearly!" Tony shouted back, grabbing two bottles of wine of the counter and dodging back over to them. He placed a bottle down on the table, handing another over to Jay to unscrew. "Jackson?"

"Yeah?" Jackson answered pausing his conversation with two friends from school. "What's up?"

"Haven't you seen him?" Tony questioned.

"Who?" Jackson shot back puzzled.

"Your boyfriend- Aaron." Tony told him. "He's in a right state!"

"In a mood most probably, he didn't try and hit you did he?" Sol chipped in.

"No! He's in a right mess." Tony continued serving Sol a filthy glare. "I think he must have banged his head or something?"

"He's okay though?" Jackson asked feeling a little worried. Maybe Tony just meant a little bang to the head, like the teen knocked his head on the side of the kitchen table when he bent down to pick something up.

"I don't know. He could barely walk straight." Tony told him. "Maybe you should go look for him."

"No! It's nearly midnight!" Sol chipped in again. "We're going to see the New Year in together."

"Let me just go check on him quickly. I haven't seen him all night." Jackson quickly told them before standing up and pushing his way through the crowded kitchen.

"Jackson!" He heard Adam call out for him as he entered the kitchen.

"What's up?"

"You haven't seen Aaron anywhere have you?" Adam asked him, he looked concerned.

"I'm now looking for him. Why have you?" Jackson asked, maybe he could tell him where his boyfriend was.

Adam shook his head. "Nah, not since a while go when he stormed off." Adam told him. "He bumped his head pretty bad I think before."

"What on?" Jackson asked, his stomach twisting. Why did Aaron have to be so clumsy?

"Corner of a draw." Adam explained. "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have gone to grab him."

"Wha-how? –Never mind, let's just find him." Jackson said shaking his head. He hadn't seen Aaron all evening, so he had presumed that Aaron was going to come looking for him at midnight. He thought he was off mucking about with Adam and taking the Mick out of his friends all night.

"He's nowhere upstairs." Adam told him. "I checked all the rooms."

"Right, let's look outside." Jackson said. "He can't have gone far, Tony just saw him."

Jackson and Adam unhooked their jackets from the peg by the kitchen door and through them on. It was far too cold to go wondering outside without a decent coat on. Outside was the only place they could think of that Aaron had to be. He was nowhere to be seen inside Smithy cottage and he was known to step outside for a cigarette. He was becoming a hard man to track down. Jackson just hoped that they would find him soon and not later. He needed to know that Aaron was okay. Tony and Adam had both told him Aaron was in a bit of a state. He couldn't help but worry for the younger man. It was unlike Aaron to get so drunk he couldn't stand or walk straight.

As soon as they stepped outside, they were greeted by Victoria and her boyfriend, Alex wrapped around her to keep her warm. "Shouldn't you be inside getting ready to snog Aaron?" Victoria commented as she snuggled closer to Alex to keep warm.

"Yeah, you would think." Jackson told them. "I can't find him. You haven't seen-."

"I've just got here mate." Alex told him.

"And I've just got out here to meet him." Victoria said. "Are you sure he's not inside getting even more paralytic?"

So Tony and Adam weren't the only ones to notice how drunken Aaron had gotten. He shook his head. "No, that's why we came out here." Jackson said. "Keep a look out, could you?"

Both Victoria and Alex nodded their heads.

Jackson and Adam began to search round the side of the surgery and behind the cottage, hoping that Aaron hadn't gone too far. They hadn't realised that when they left the kitchen, Aaron had stepped back inside via the living room stable door. Neither Alex nor Victoria had noticed because they had been too engrossed in one and other as they met. He'd gone outside for a smoke, but after searching his pockets for a good five minutes, he realised he'd left his packet of cigarettes upstairs in his jacket pocket and with the cold biting at his skin he decided to go back inside, even though he couldn't stand the crowds of people of the volume of the music. It was all too much for him. The loud thump of the music made his skull pulse painfully and the pockets of people scattered all over the kitchen and lounge made him uncomfortable. He just wanted to get upstairs and lay down. Why had he drunk so much? He couldn't walk straight, his vision blurred and wonky as he tried to climb the stairs, hands firmly gripping the banister as he stumbled on a few steps.

"He's not out here." Adam said as they walked back round the surgery to the front of the building. "Let's head back inside. Maybe we should call his mum, see if she's seen him?"

Jackson shook his head. He didn't want to get Chastity involved. He wouldn't hear the end of it and it would only make things worse. "Let's just get back inside."

Adam nodded his head and followed Jackson back towards the front door. Before they could even enter the house, Tony burst out the door looking for them. "Jackson, it's Aaron. He's upstairs." Tony told him.

He'd been coming out of the bathroom when he noticed the teen heading into one of the upstairs rooms.

"Which room?" Adam asked heading straight for the stairs with Jackson ahead.

"Uh. . .I don't know." Tony stuttered as he tried to think. How was he supposed to know which room belonged to who? "First door on the right, I think."

"His room." Jackson called back as he reached the top of the stairs, squeezing past a few on his ascent up.

He pushed the bedroom door open, revealing an empty dark room. He couldn't see Aaron as his eyes quickly darted around the room searching for the young mechanic. Tony had definitely said this room. He could sense Adam behind him doing exactly the same thing. Thankfully nobody had stepped foot in this room, maybe because Aaron had locked the door when Jackson had left the room. He didn't want anybody in their room but he'd left Hazel's and Paddy and Rhona's room available to anyone. About to go check the other rooms, a movement out of the corner of Jackson's eye caught his attention. He quickly flicked on the light. The teen was sitting on the floor on the far side of the room, his back was slumped against the window as he leaned to the side resting his shoulder the set of drawers they both shared. His legs were drawn up towards him and his head was tilted back, his eyes nearly closed. Even from where Jackson stood, he could see where Aaron had banged his head. There was blood trailing down the side of his face and head, some of it smeared from where he must have touched it, all of it began from a single head wound on at his hair line. What had he banged his head on?

Quickly, Jackson made his way around the bed towards the younger man, crouching down in front of him and placing his hands on the teen's knees. Aaron looked worse close up, the blood a striking contrast to his pale skin. He seemed to out of it to realise the builder was even there in front of him.

"Aaron?" Jackson called out to him, reaching a hand out to touch the left side of the young mechanics face where there was no blood. "Aaron." He repeated more firmly.

"Is he conscious?" Adam asked, making his way over to them.

"Barely- I think. I don't know. I can't get him to wake up." Jackson told him as Adam knelt down beside him and tried to wake the teen himself.

"Aaron! . . .Aaron!" Adam tried. "Aaron, mate you need to wake up." He added shaking the teen's shoulder who only moaned in response. At least it was something.

Aaron began to blink his eyes, trying to keep them open. He reach a hand up to his head, a searing pain ripped through his skull. He didn't expect to feel the cold sticky liquid on the side of his head. Surprised, he pulled his hand away and looked at the blood covering his fingers.

"Aaron." Jackson said trying to catch his attention.

"Jackson?" Aaron answered grabbing the top of the set of draws to pull himself up. He managed to pull himself halfway up before his world tilted and he felt as though he was going to fall.

"Woah!" Adam called out, grabbing hold of the teen by the waist and an arm. "Careful." He said as Jackson helped him lower the young mechanic to the floor.

"My head. . ." Aaron trailed off closing his eyes and allowing his head to loll forward.

"Oh no you don't." Jackson said tilting Aaron's head back up. "Open your eyes." He ordered. "Aaron! Open your eyes."

"Tired." Aaron groaned, trying to swat away Jackson's hand.

"Sorry, but you can't sleep." Jackson said. They weren't sure whether Aaron was groggy due to the alcohol intake or because of the bang to the head. They couldn't allow Aaron to go to sleep until they were certain. "You've banged your head."

"I know." Aaron mumbled.

"Can you remember what on?" Adam questioned.

"I don't know." Aaron grumbled. ". . .Drawers?"

Adam nodded his head to confirm he was right.

"Come on, lets get you up onto the bed before we do anything else." Jackson said, standing up ready to help the teen up.

Adam stood as well and the two of them helped Aaron up on to his feet and half carried him onto the bed.

"Why don't you go downstairs and make him a strong cup of coffee and something to eat while I clean him up." Jackson said to Adam.

"Sure." The young farmer said before disappearing to make the coffee.

Jackson left the room and went across the hall into the bathroom, fetching a glass full hot water and fresh flannel from the cupboard before going back to Aaron. He placed the items on the side before he went to make Aaron more comfortable. There was no way the teen was going to be going back to the party to enjoy the rest of it. He was staying upstairs until the morning at least. It was then that he noticed the teen was only wearing one boot, as he looked around the room for another he spotted it lying near where they had found Aaron on the floor. He'd obviously tried to undress himself most probably putting himself to bed.

"Aaron, I'm just gonna get you changed, okay?" Jackson said letting the teen know what he was about to do before he continued. He pulled the other boot off of Aaron's foot, placing it on the floor next to the other, before he began unbuttoning Aaron's shirt. Thankfully none of the blood from his injury had gotten onto the black shirt, Jackson liked the shirt on Aaron. He thought it showed of Aaron's slim, toned body. He took a white sleeveless top from the draws and pulled it on over Aaron's head, with no help from the teen who was trying to go back to sleep again, before he began to take the teen's jeans off and covering him up with the duvet folded at the end of the bed.

"Let me sleep." Aaron groaned when he was getting fed up of being pulled about.

"Shh. . ." Jackson soothed, looking at the younger man sat up in bed. "Not yet, let me clean you up and Adam's going to bring you up something to eat."

He dipped the flannel in the glass of water, carefully dabbing it around the wound at Aaron's head.

"Ah." The teen winced, pulling back, his half lidded eyes opening a little.

"Sorry." Jackson said, slipping a hand round the back of Aaron's head to keep him steady. He continued cleaning the blood off of Aaron's head until it was all gone. It didn't look so bad when there was no frightening red smeared down the side of his face.

From downstairs, Jackson could hear everybody beginning the count down.

A/N – Updated at long last. Hope you guys are enjoying this 3 part fic. Thank you for such great feedback!


	3. Chapter 3

From downstairs Jackson could hear everybody beginning to countdown to midnight.

"Five. . . Four. . . Three." Everybody downstairs began to chant through the house. Somebody must have switched the TV on in the lounge and located a New Year's countdown feature on one of the many channels. It sounded through the house, big Ben's chimes ringing up the stairs.

"Aaron don't fall asleep." Jackson said softly to the teen who kept drifting off to sleep.

". . . Two."

Aaron shrugged Jackson Off, struggling against Jackson's grip on his shoulder to shuffle further down the bed to lie down. He wasn't aware of what was going on or what the time was or soon would be. His head felt like it was full of cotton. He just wanted to sleep, sleep off the alcohol and sleep away the throbbing ache in his skull. Hopefully, e could sleep through his hangover the next day if he was lucky. Why couldn't he be left to do just that?

"One!" A few people exclaimed downstairs while other's must have been caught up in a news years kiss. Unfortuantly Jackson wasn't one of those. He had hoped to be sharing that moment with Aaron in an exactly different way to what they were now, not perched on the end of their bed trying to keep the younger man awake as he feared he had concussion. He thought they would be downstairs, with everybody else, sharing a new year's kiss with Aaron. A brilliant way to see the new years in, start as you mea to go on, sadly, they hadn't.

"Aaron!" Jackson snapped at the teen who's eyes had fallen closed once more. "Keep awake!" He shook the young mechanic to wake him when he didn't respond, only to receive yet another aggressive grumble in return. Aaron's colour wasn't picking up and it made Jackson concerned about the teen. Even though Aaron was usually pale, he looked even more pale than usual. It surely, couldn't have been from the blood loss. Aaron hadn't lost that much blood from his head injury which were usually typical to bleed a lot.

When Aaron tried to scramble out of bed, pushing away Jackson's hands, the builder was even more worried. "You okay?" He asked panicked.

He was going to be sick. He could feel it rising from his stomach all of a sudden, threatening to make an appearance. He tried to nod his head in response to Jackson, so he'd leave him alone, scared to open his mouth just incase. Only it made things worse when he nodded his head, a new spell of dizziness came over him, nearly sending him crashing to the floor instead of clambering out of bed, if it wasn't for Jackson to hold him up.

"Aaron?" Jackson started, even more worried by his behavior now.

"I. . . Sick- I'm gonna be." Aaron tried to tell him.

Quick thinking, Jackson jumped from the bed and grabbed the bin from the corner of the room, shoving it in front of Aaron. As his boyfriend retched into the plastic bin, Jackson rubbed his back soothingly. It wasn't until he was finished did Jackson pluck a couple of tissues from a packet in a draw before handing them to the teen and taking away the bin. He took the bin into the bathroom and stood in the bath for the time being, making sure to deal with it later. When he returned to the bedroom Adam was just sitting down next to Aaron, placing a sandwich on a plate on to Aaron's lap and reaching over the teen to place the coffee on the nightstand beside him.

"Sorry I was ages." Adam apologized to Jackson. "Got a little distracted."

"Some poor girl had you to kiss then?" Jackson teased crossing the room to pick up the coffee and hand to Aaron to drink, who seemed to want to go back to sleep again.

"Ouch!" Adam exclaimed before asking "How is he?"

"Well, he's just been sick." Jackson told him. "How hard did he hit his head?"

"I don't know, he just fell and caught it." Adam said before he began to panic. "Why? Do you think it's serious? Should we call 999?"

Jackson quickly shook his head. "He should be fine. We just need to keep on checking on him, that's all."

Relief washed over Adam's face. "Thank god. His mum is going to go mad!"

"Let's not tell her for now." Jackson told Adam before he took the coffee from Aaron who had only drank a quarter at the most.

"Not hungry." Aaron protested when Jackson placed the sandwich in front of him.

"Try to eat a little." Jackson said determined that some of the sandwich would be eaten by his boyfriend. He needed to be sobered up before they let him sleep.

He couldn't believe what they were trying to do. He'd just been sick, why would he want anything to eat? He just wanted to sleep but each time he closed his eyes somebody would be waking him up. The either wanted to chat to him, make him eat or even get him changed out of his nice clothes he'd been wearing. What happened to his shirt Jackson had gotten him to wear earlier? He managed two mouthfuls before he couldn't stomach much more. He was going to sleep. Who cares if they wanted him to keep awake, he wasn't going to follow their orders any more. He didn't want to play that game now. He wanted to sleep and that was it, no more. He shuffled further down the bed and rested his head on the pillow. He could have even slept sitting up because he was so tired. But his head was killing him and he thought that maybe if he laid down it would help. It wasn't long before he was in an alcohol induced sleep.

When Adam and Jackson were satisfied that Aaron was going to be okay and was soundly asleep, the two headed back downstairs to wind down the party and gradually say goodnight to everybody as they headed back home. Holly, Roz, Victoria, Amy and Alex stayed behind to help clear up the mess that was left behind. Holly and Roz took care of the kitchen, lining up the unopened alcohol along the floor by the door and ditching the empty bottles and other rubbish in black bags. Alex and Adam tackled outside, it seemed a few people didn't care about ditching bottles outside, they even found one of Paddy's shirts dangling off of a tree and a few pairs of Hazel's shoes ditched further down the lawn. While Victoria and Amy cleaned and tidied the other downstairs rooms, Jackson kept upstairs and tackled the rooms that everybody had managed to get into, once in a while he'd peak his head through Aaron's door and make sure he was okay. By five that morning when everybody had finished helping to clear up the house and gone home after they'd eaten some breakfast made by Jackson as a thank you gesture for their help, the builder slipped into bed next to Aaron who was in a very deep sleep.

The next morning, Aaron woke up with barely any recollection of the night before. His skull felt like it was going to split in half as he tried to look around and gather his bearings without lifting his head. He couldn't remember getting into bed, let alone how he'd changed into just a white vest and black boxers. The space beside him on the bed was empty as he reached out an arm expecting to pull the sleeping builder closer to him, only to find cold bed sheets in his space. Aaron rolled onto his side, cupping a hand over his eyes as the light screamed through a gap his curtains and let his other hand blindly search the night stand for his phone. When he found his phone, he swept a finger over the screen to light up the screen and peeked through his fingers of his other to look at the time. It was well into the afternoon. No wonder he couldn't find Jackson beside him.

Aaron rolled out of bed slowly, pushing himself up from the floor with his hands and headed towards the door to the hall. He was going to grab a huge glass of something cold and hydrating and the box of pain killers in the bathroom before heading back to bed to sleep away the rest of the day. There was no way he was going to stay up and about in the state he was in, he wasn't going to suffer. How much exactly had he drunk the night before? He crossed the hall and went into the bathroom first, walking over to the mirrored cabinet above the sink for the painkillers. He was shocked at his appearance when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked rough it wasn't a surprise, he felt rough but what was a surprise was the large purple bruise forming over part of the left side of his forehead from his hairline and the sore read gash in the middle. Dried blood was still encrusted in his hair and when he reached up to touch it tenderly, pain shot through the wound. He tried to think how it had happened but he couldn't remember which got him thinking again, how much had he drank? He never usually drank so much, so why? Then it came back to him.

A memory of Jackson standing in the kitchen surrounded by his friend's as they slagged off Aaron, while he listened from the doorway. The builder made no move to correct his friends or defend Aaron. That's what had hurt Aaron. How could the older man stand back as sol and the others ripped into him? He could remember being so hurt as Jackson just listened to them and stupidly thought that drinking and having a good time with Adam was a good idea. He could remember him and Adam in the lounge doing shots with a few people, downing bottles of beer and even a couple small glasses of whiskey. No wonder his head was banging. But he still couldn't recollect the moment that had caused the injury to his head. Had he been that far wasted?

"Aaron? Is that you?" Jackson called up the stairs making Aaron jump slightly and wince for his head. ". . . You've woken up then?"

Aaron closed the bathroom cabinet having found what he was after and slammed the bathroom door shut behind him as he entered the hall. He looked down to see Jackson standing at the bottom of the stairs eyeing him questionably.

"How're you feeling?" Jackson asked him, breaking the tension.

"Fine." Aaron grunted in response before chucking the painkillers into their room. He still remembered Jackson incredible urge to defend his boyfriend from last night.

"You sure?" Jackson questioned as he stepped back to allow Aaron to walk past him after descending the stairs.

"Positive." Aaron snapped smartly, grabbing a glass from the drying rack by the sink and sticking it under the tap. He let the water fill to the brim before twisting the tap off, he squeezed past Jackson again and headed back upstairs.

Well that was odd. Aaron's behavior towards him was cold and reserved. They hadn't gotten into an argument and Aaron barely ever took his bad moods out on Jackson like that. So what had happened? Ditching his plans to vacuum round the house before Paddy and Rhona returned from their weekend away, Jackson headed upstairs after the young mechanic.

A/N – A short little update. But I thought this was a good place to end it for now. Look out for the next up date soon! Thank you for all the great reviews and feedback!


	4. Chapter 4

The young mechanic was sat at the edge of the bed on his side. He was already gussling down the tall glass of water as she chucked a couple of pills to the back of his throat. Jackson was glad to see that the younger man her gained a bit of colour to his face since last night. However he still looked rough.

"Why are you in such a bad mood? Except for the killer headache and hangover." Jackson asked from the door.

Aaron paused and glared at Jackson.

"Seriously, Aaron what's the matter with you? You're in such a bad mood with me." The builder sighed.

"Why don't you go ask your friends what's the matter with me." Aaron spat at him. "You were all up for picking holes in me last night, laughing about me with your mates.

"Aaron! I don't know what you heard but I wasn't laughing about you or putting you down!" Jackson defended. "I would never put you down!"

"Funny you seemed to be last night!" Aaron shot at him his anger boiling to the surface. "In face why are you even with me?"

Jackson scrubbed a hand over his face and walked further into the room. What was going through his boyfriends head right now? This wasn't how he wanted to start the year. "Don't even go there." He said quietly, staring at Aaron. "You know perfectly well why I'm with you."

"Yeah well you done a good job at convincing your mates that you want to be with me!" The teen argued. "You just stood there and allowed them to talk about me like I was scum!"

"I did defend you." Jackson told him firmly. He was disgusted by his friends rudeness last night talking about his boyfriend like he wasn't good enough for him.

Aaron scoffed. "Yeah, sounded like you did."

"I did Aaron, I would never let anybody talk about you like your scum. You mean everything to me Aaron.! Jackson told him, taking a seat beside him on the edge of the bed.

"Well your mates don't seem to think so." Aaron mumbled under his breath.

"Screw them! They don't mean nothing to me compared to you." Jackson said. "They obviously don't know the real Aaron or they're just jealous that I have you and they don't."

"Don't be daft." The young mechanic said.

"I'm no. You must be for the state you got yourself into last night." Jackson smirked, nudging Aaron in the side.

"How bad was I?" Aaron asked, scared of the answer he would get. It wouldn't have been the first time that he so far gone he couldn't walk straight.

"Very." Jackson answered bluntly. "Had me and Adam running round after you."

Aaron groaned. "Do you know what happened to my head?"

"You fell." Jackson explained turning Aaron's head to face him so he could look at it again. "How's it feeling?"

"Sore." Aaron groaned trying not to think about it.

"I should think so. Maybe you've learnt your lesson not to get so wasted again." Jackson said hopefully.

The younger man shrugged. He wasn't making any promises.

"I doubt it. I bet you'll go out next week with Adam and get off you face again." The older man laughed.

"Not with how my head it feeling right now." Aaron groaned lowering himself back onto the bed and closing his eyes.

Jackson smirked. He had no sympathy with the state Aaron was in, it was all self inflicted. But e wasn't going to make him suffer anymore than he had to. "have another sleep." Jackson said.

"I will." The teen grumbled with out opening his eyes.

Jackson had just got up from the edge of the bed and was about to go back downstairs and make a start on the vacuuming when Aaron spoke from the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I was just-." The builder began to explain.

"Shut up and come here." Aaron ordered, still resting his eyes.

Jackson couldn't help but smile. He walked back over to the bed and watched as Aaron shifted over and up the bed to make room for the older man. Jackson climbed on top of the duvet with him and laid on his side next to Aaron. It wasn't long until he could see Aaron's breathing even out as he drifted to sleep, in hopes that his horrible hangover would be gone when he woke again.

The older builder must have drifted to sleep too at some point because when he came round a few hours late it was dark outside and Aaron was no longer asleep beside him. He could hear voices downstairs, belonging to paddy and Rhona who had gotten back from their weekend away mostly probably. Jackson rolled over onto his back and had a good stretch, releasing the tension in his back after his refreshing nap.

"You're awake." Aaron said from the door making the older man jump. Aaron had gotten dressed, or rather ditched his vest and pulled on a pair of sweat pants. He was no carrying two bottles of beers in his hands.

"Paddy and Rhona back?" Jackson asked, as Aaron climbed onto the bed and crawled towards his boyfriend.

"Yeah, they got here ten minutes ago." Aaron answered, handing Jackson one of the beers.

"What are you doing?" Jackson asked as he watched Aaron fiddling with the clock on his phone.

The younger man didn't answer him. He simply continued to adjust the clock backwards until it reached 11.59pm and the date changed to December 31st. He placed the phone on the bed between them and moved over so he was straddling Jackson's hips underneath him, as the builder continued lying on his back.

"10... 9 ... 8... 7..." Aaron began to count back, staring into Jackson's eyes. "6... 5... 4..."

Jacksno couldn't help the grin that took over his face.

"3... 2..." He never reached one. The young mechanic leaned down and captured Jackson's lips with his own, pulling him into a hungry kiss that left them struggling for breath and their hands wondering under clothes, desperate to find bear skin.

"Sorry I screwed this up last night." Aaron panted, pulling away to stare into Jackson's lust filled eyes.

"'s' fine." Jackson breathed, taking in a huge breath.

That was all Aaron needed to hear before he captured Jackson's lips again. He could feel Jackson growing hard beneath him, as he ran his hands up the older man's sides. Growing hard and impatient himself, Aaron shredded Jackson shirt off of him before tackling his belt. Soon enough, both were naked above the covers getting familiar with each others bodies again. The older man tussled the teen until they rolled to the side, so Jackson was on top of Aaron, sucking and biting a trail down his body, before nibbling on sensitive area of skin at the base of Aaron's neck. Forgetting himself Jackson went to grab hold of Aaron's short cropped hair, to pull him in for a another breath taking kiss, accidently catching the area where Aaron had banged his head.

"Ow!" Aaron cried out, squinting his eyes shut to block out the pang of pain.

"Shit. . . are you okay?" Jackson cursed letting go straight away.

Aaron laughed unable to stop himself. "Yeah."

"Sure?" Jackson laughed.

Aaron nodded biting his lip.

Later on, Jackson and Aaron laid beneath the cover well spent and exhausted from their evening. Neither were asleep but both had their eyes closed listening to the others' laboured breathing and fast heartbeats.

"Don't ever listen to anything bad anyone dares say about you." Jackson whispered in the dark. "You may be hot headed, and a little stupid with you choices sometimes. But your loyal, passionate, protective, caring man that would make anybody proud."

"Shut up."

"Shut up yourself!"

The End

A/N – This should have been finished long before now. Apologies! Thank you for such great reviews and feedback. Hope you enjoyed reading this fic.


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